Results from high-quality systematic reviews provide not only the best strategy for effective program[unreadable] development but also show where evidence is lacking and further research is needed. These reviews are[unreadable] also a helpful source of information for developing didactic materials and tools and guidelines for both health[unreadable] care providers and consumers. There is a need for greater involvement among U.S. professionals in[unreadable] developing systematic reviews, as well as a need for the more effective implementation of the results of such[unreadable] reviews. We propose to host a conference (April 26-28, 2006) that will assess the barriers to conducting and[unreadable] implementing the results of systematic reviews, thereby facilitating an increase in the impact of systematic[unreadable] reviews in maternal and neonatal health. The conference will foster discussion around three objectives: 1) to[unreadable] identify needs for administrative and technical support to reviewers in the preparation of systematic reviews,[unreadable] including the development of protocols and the identification of relevant topics on maternal and neonatal[unreadable] issues for the Americas; 2) to identify new ways to encourage and assist current reviewers in updating their[unreadable] reviews on a regular basis; and 3) to identify the best strategies to widely diffuse existing evidence from[unreadable] systematic reviews to health care professionals, stakeholders, policy makers and health researchers and to[unreadable] encourage the use of evidence-based practices in the Americas. Prior to the conference, selected[unreadable] healthcare professionals will be asked to write a position paper on each of the objectives of the conference.[unreadable] Two professionals will be assigned for each objective, and they will then play the role of moderators during[unreadable] the workshops. The papers will be circulated before the conference among registered participants to guide[unreadable] discussion during the workshops. The topics selected for discussion will include the needs and barriers[unreadable] encountered by reviewers in preparing new reviews and in updating existing reviews. Discussion will also[unreadable] center on necessary strategies to diffuse and implement available evidence. Each workshop will address one[unreadable] specific objective and will result in a final report. The reports will then be used to define the strategic plan of a[unreadable] program that will be established at the Tulane Center for Evidence-Based Global Health (CEBGH), which will[unreadable] assist reviewers in the Americas in performing and updating systematic reviews on maternal and neonatal[unreadable] health and promote the diffusion and implementation of evidence-based practices. The conference will be[unreadable] attended by Cochrane reviewers from the Americas, as well as by representatives from the AHRQ and the[unreadable] EPCs, the Cochrane Collaboration in the United States, the NICHD Global Network for Women's and[unreadable] Children's Health Research and the Cochrane Pregnancy & Childbirth Review Group in the UK and Canada.[unreadable] Plenary sessions will be open to the public, including students and faculty from the Tulane University Health[unreadable] Sciences Center.